The 12 Cranial Nerves
There are 12 pairs of cranial nerves. These nerves arise from the brain and brain stem, carrying motor and or sensory information. Cranial nerve I : Olfactory nerve The olfactory nerve is composed of axons from the olfactory receptors in the nasal sensory epithelium. It carries olfactory information (sense of smell) to the olfactory bulb of the brain. This is a pure sensory nerve fiber. Cranial nerve II: Optic nerve The optic nerve is composed of axons of the ganglion cells in the eye. It carries visual information to the brain. This is a pure sensory nerve fiber. This nerve travels posteromedially from the eye, exiting the orbit at the optic canal in the lesser wing of the sphenoid bone. The optic nerves join each other in the middle cranial fossa to form the optic chiasm. Cranial nerve III: Oculomotor nerve The oculomotor nerve is composed of motor axons coming from the oculomotor nucleus and the edinger-westphal nucleus in the rostral midbrain located at the superior colliculus leve...